Chapter 10:
The sun was high in the sky. Midday, by now. Although the sun was at it's most intense, it was hidden from the yami's eyes. Large, green leaves were shading them as they continued their path, deeper into the woods.
"We're going the wrong way. This is opposite the mountain." Yami whined. He was getting tired from all the walking.
"Oh well, we just came down here to get away from that growling noise. We can turn back in a few minutes."
Marik looked around, "Do you think it was that Monkey-Man again? No… couldn't be. Monkey-Man always moaned, never a growl."
They nodded thoughtfully and decided to turn back. The animal that made that awful noise would have surely gone by now. So they went back. After about thirty minutes, they heard something again.
Grr…
"Aw, hell, not again." Marik looked around along with Yami and Bakura. It began to get louder and closer.
A tree in the corner of Yami's eye was shaking and so were the three yamis. They backed away from it slowly, but as they moved further and further away, the tree shook more and more.
Bakura was about to suggest that they make a mad dash for the clearing, but when the tree was bent in half and a huge grizzly bear jumped out… Well, Yami and Marik climbed over Bakura and went scrambling and screaming down the path.
He soon followed and so did the bear. "GRAHHHH!" The large bear tore off after them in a rage.
"AHH!" The three yamis were tripping over each other's feet as they tried to avoid the large animal that was no less than four feet behind them every step of the way.
"W-What do we do! W-What do we do!" Yami cried out, "He's gonna eat us!"
Marik looked back at the bear then down to the millennium rod in his belt loop, "Does mind control work on dumb animals!"
Bakura shook his head, "The dumb thing's gotta have I mind, I think!"
"Well, then, where are we running to! We can't go the ten miles to the ranger-" Yami began but stopped and squealed when the bear bit off the back of his shoe. "Good Ra, get me outta here!"
"GRAHHH!"
As the bear roared out, the yamis began to cry and sob while continuing to run. The greenery was starting to clear and they could see the mountain again. But as they were coming to the homestretch, Marik got caught by a low hanging vine.
It had tangled itself around Marik's neck and was now hanging him off the ground. Mind you, he was not wounded in anyway, just extremely uncomfortable.
"Oh Ra! G-Get me off!" He screamed and scratched at the vine.
Yami and Bakura stopped in their tracks when they realized Marik wasn't with them. They looked back and saw that Marik was wildly fidgeting and wailing as the bear cautiously approached him and sniffed.
Bakura nodded towards the opposite direction, "C'mon, Marik's distracting him. Let's make a run for it."
Yami blinked, "Leave? Bakura, Marik's in trouble!"
"Why in hell's name do you care?"
"It's my responsibility to make sure nothing else goes wrong!" He pointed, "That's my responsibility hanging from that vine! Marik, hang tight! We're gonna get you down!"
"Grahh…" The bear sniffed Marik's face again.
"Oh my Ra…" Marik was sobbing and shivering, "What should I do…?" He whispered.
"Play dead." Bakura said, hiding in a bush. "He'll leave you alone."
Marik immediately fell limp and hung there, looking quite dead. "…"
The bear sniffed again.
Yami crouched down next to Bakura, "Listen, give me your dagger. I'm gonna try and cut Marik down from that tree."
"You're going to kill yourself over Marik? Fine then, I get your puzzle." He handed the dagger over and Yami carefully crawled away.
Marik wasn't holding up too well. He was starting to wonder if the bear really would leave him alone. But that didn't matter anyway, because he had lost his look of deadness and was whimpering.
"Tee… gah…" He bit his lips to stop all the senseless babble that was leaking out. The bear now knew he wasn't dead and began to growl again.
"Grrraaaahh!"
"Ra!" Marik cried out.
Meanwhile, Yami had climbed up the tree that Marik was hanging from. He had the dagger in his hand and was quickly cutting away at the vine, hopping the bear wouldn't notice him.
It growled a little more, opened his mouth and showed off his saliva dripping fangs to Marik, whose eyes were now dilated.
Yami whispered, "Just a little longer…"
"Gruh…" The bear heard Yami's voice and looked up. Yami squealed and the bear started to climb up the tree after him. He hurriedly finished cutting the vine and Marik fell down onto the ground.
"Hoo…" Marik sighed and unwrapped the vine from his neck, "T-That was-"
"HELP!" Yami yelled and jumped down from the tree. He landed on his feet, next to Marik and grabbed his hand, "Let's go!"
The bear was now outraged at his prey, that was running away. It followed with a giant roar, "GRAHHHH!"
A little ways away, in the thick of the forest, a series of loud cries had reached the old man, who was sunning himself on a rock, by the stream. At first, he thought nothing of it and was just trying to get a good nap in before he set out again… but soon those girly cries sounded strangely familiar.
"Hmm…" He sat up and wondered, 'Could it be…? No, I'm sure it's something else…'
The cries for help came again and then came a loud roar. His ears perked up and recognized the terrified screams as belonging to the three teens he had lost.
"Bakura! Yami! Marik!" He yelled and got up, struggling with his broken hip. "I'm coming, boys! Don't worry, I'm coming!"
Meanwhile, Marik and Yami were running for their lives and Bakura was no where to be seen. With the large bear fast in pursuit, and with no sign of help, the two yamis were at wit's end.
"That no-good thief bailed on us!" Marik yelled at Yami. "I can't believe it!"
He panted, "I-I can! Don't worry, though, I'm sure we can… urm, get away!"
"GRAHHHH!" The mighty bear followed and was tearing up the forest ground underneath his paws.
Marik and Yami were close to the clearing now and were about to make it… if it weren't for a log on the ground, tripping them. They fell over it on, flat on their faces and were trapped as the bear loomed over them.
It panted hard and starred at them, "Gruh… gruh… gruh…"
Yami cringed, "I'm sorry, Marik! I thought I could get us out of here! But it looks like this is the end… You know, no matter what I've said, I've always sort of liked you…!"
Marik looked at him, "Yami, you're an idiot!"
Just as the bear was leaning in for a bite out of Yami, something rushed out of the bushes and jumped in front of the bear, "Boo!" It yelled.
"Ah!" Marik scrambled up, "It's the Monkey-Man! Hurry, let's go before it eats us!" He and Yami hurried away.
The Monkey-Man, however, stayed and fought off the bear with a large stick he'd found in the middle of the forest. He yelled, "You leave my grandson's friends alone!"
While that was happening, Marik and Yami had made it to the clearing. They sighed in relief and, suddenly, Bakura appeared out of a bush.
"Hey guys. You're alive, that's good."
"Bakura! You snake, I-" Marik began, but was silence by Yami's cell phone. He looked down at it and said, "Let it ring, Yugi can wait while I ring Bakura's neck!"
"Just you try it, Ishtar!" He shouted.
"Wait a minute!" Yami stepped in the middle of them, "Don't do this. Not here. We need to get away from here before that awful bear comes after us."
Bakura folded his arms, then quirked an eyebrow, "…Well, how'd you guys get away, anyway?"
"Monkey-Man jumped in front of the bear just as he was about to eat us." Yami said, scratching his head, "I feel kinda bad now… compared to the bear, Monkey-Man looked kinda… small. I hope he's okay."
Marik glared at him, "You hope a monster that's tried to kill us before is okay! You're the craziest guy I've ever met."
Yami sighed, "…"
"Um… Oh, and, I-I wanted to say… well, you did cut me down back there, Yami and I… I just…" Marik faltered, trying to choke out his sentence. "I just wanted to… say t-thank… Thank you…"
"Ah! Well, Marik, you are very welcome!" Yami had apparently cheered up and smiled at him, "Come on, then, let's get going!"
Ranger Sweet gazed up into the sky. He thought he'd heard something just a second ago. But then it faded quickly, so Sweet continued on his journey.
He'd been going for about three hours and wasn't even tired. Obviously, that was the resilience of a forest ranger.
"Okay! Now, let's see…" He looked at his Body Heat Tracker. Nothing but small forest animals moved, "What! Nothing. I could've swore…"
Something else moved in the underbrush and Sweet pulled out his gun. He shot seven rounds at nothing but a fallen branch.
Sweet grinned to himself, "Ha. Now, do ya see? There's no tree branch as tough as me!"
